Mural project updates summer programs, events

Staff reports

WINSTED — The American Mural Project (AMP) is suspending its five-week Summer @AMP programs for children age 7–12, but is continuing to offer two weeks of Outdoor Design & Building, a program for youth ages 10–16, and a two-week Digital Story Work internship program for young adults age 17 and older.

The Outdoor Design & Building program and Digital Story Work internship dates have been changed to July 27–Aug. 7, with limited enrollment of 4–6 participants per week. The programs will be held on AMP’s campus at 90 Whiting St.

Following revised guidance from the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) and the governor’s office, AMP determined it would not be possible to operate the Summer @AMP programs, while still ensuring the health and safety of its youngest participants, members said in a statement.

The Outdoor Design & Building program, as well the Digital Story Work internship program, serve older participants in an outdoor setting, allowing for easier social distancing compliance for a smaller group of participants, members said. Strict attention to hygiene and cleaning will also be integral to these programs, along with daily health screenings for both staff and participants.

The Outdoor Design & Building program, originally scheduled for June 29–July 2 and July 7–10, will now be held July 27–30 and Aug. 3–6. Limited to six participants per week, this program is ideal for aspiring builders, landscape designers, architects, and artists.

Participants will work with experienced craftspeople to learn basic skills in design and woodworking, and will design and create structures for AMP’s property. Register for one or two weeks, 9:00am–3:00pm, $225 per week (Monday–Thursday). The program is open to ages 10–16. For full program details, schedules, ages, costs, and registration, go to americanmuralproject.org/ summer

This year, the Digital Story Work internship enters its fourth summer, with a two-week, full-day program for youth ages 17 and older who are either attending school or who have entered the workplace, now offered from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., July 27–30 and Aug. 3–6. This program was originally scheduled for June 29–July 10.)

Interns will work with an AMP teaching artist to learn the basics of video production and compelling storytelling by creating short documentaries, interviews, and marketing videos. Daily workshops offer collaborative project work under the mentorship of experienced professionals in the fields of journalism, communication, and film, who will help participants develop skills in interviewing, story development, and documentary video production. Four internships are available. Each intern will receive a nominal stipend after completion of the internship and assigned project work. Interns should apply online by 5 p.m. June 12 at americanmuralproject.org/ internships.

“While curtailing some of our programs this summer was a difficult decision to make, we plan to use this time strategically,” said Michelle Begley, programs director at AMP, in a statement. “We will continue to build and prepare ourselves to host the growing community of families whose children love to create, grow, tinker, and dabble at AMP.”

To date, the Outdoor Design & Building program is sponsored in part by the Torrington Savings Bank Foundation.

About the American Mural Project: Launched in 2002 by artist Ellen Griesedieck, the American Mural Project (AMP) is creating the largest indoor collaborative artwork in the world—a mural 120 feet long, 48 feet high, and up to ten feet deep. The mural is a tribute to American workers and highlights what has defined the country over the last century. It seeks to inspire, to educate, to invite collaboration, and to reveal to people of all ages the many contributions they can make to American culture. Nothing like it exists in the world.

More than 15,000 children and adults have helped create pieces of the mural, which will be housed in two former mill buildings on Whiting Street in Winsted, Connecticut. Scope Construction finished renovations on the mural building in fall 2018, and the lengthy process of assembling and installing the mural is now underway. Programming is currently offered for schools and teachers, after-school partnerships, summer enrichment camps, and an apprenticestyle internship program.

Lead funding for the American Mural Project has been provided by the Newman’s Own Foundation, Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, and the Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Recent additional support has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Connecticut Community Foundation, the Maximilian E. and Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, Eversource Foundation, and Northwest Community Bank.